DISH, blue-and-white porcelain with design of a bird eating a loquat
Cultural Property | Important Cultural Property |
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Date1 | Ming dynasty |
Date2 | Yongle period (1403-1424) |
Kiln | Jingdezhen ware |
Height (cm) | 10.0 |
Mouth Diameter (cm) | 50.5 |
Weight (g) | 4,620 |
Collection | The ATAKA Collection |
Credit Line | The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of SUMITOMO Group, the ATAKA Collection), photograph by 〓(Please credit the name of the photographer which is indicated at the bottom left of each image) |
Accession No. | 00560 |
Description | This lobed dish with a diameter of over 50 centimeters bears in the center a scene of a bird pecking at a loquat, leaving abundant white space. The bird is called shoudainiao in Chinese: since shou is homonymous with the character for longevity, it is regarded as an auspicious symbol of long life. The loquat is a symbol of wealth as it bears abundant gold-color fruit. Both sides of the cavetto bear auspicious fruits including pomegranates, peaches and lychee while the mouth rim is decorated with baoxianghua scrolls and waves. The artistic expression of the underglaze blue decoration becomes more refined during the Yongle period, which is executed in a more pictorial manner leaving moderate amount of white background like this work. |